Liverpool asked to shell out £2m for Norberto Neto

Liverpool have been asked to shell out £2m for the signature of Fiorentina goalkeeper Norberto Neto in January in spite of the player's contract set to expire after the end of the season, according to the Daily Mirror.

Brendan Rodgers is looking to add a stopper in January to provide competition to the much maligned Simon Mignolet and Brad Jones, with Neto's name coming up in their list of probable targets.

Juventus are favourites to land the player with the Turin club reported to have an agreement with the player to sign for the Serie A Champions after the end of the season. However, Fiorentina are testing the waters with a price tag for the player in January and Rodgers is the most likely candidate to take the bait.

Neto is expected to earn £1.5m a year in Turin but Liverpool are more than capable of matching the wages should they deem the player fit for their needs. The Brazilian is more likely to be a starter at Liverpool than at Juventus where he will be competing with Gianluigi Buffon, a tall order for any keeper in world football.

Liverpool are also keeping a close eye on Petr Cech, who has fallen out of favour at Chelsea but will have to pay considerably more than what they are anticipating with Neto.

Jones is currently out with a thigh injury for Liverpool and Rodgers is deliberating on a transfer to gauge the Australian's recovery and Mignolet's form before the window closes in February.

"I think we need a goalkeeper of some sort, it's just depending on how long Brad Jones is going to be out injured. We are obviously down and have got two young inexperienced keepers behind Simon, who is only just back in the team, so we need to assess that," Rodgers said.

"Simon was at the time we were watching him, and still is, a wonderful shot-stopper. He makes big saves but the adaptation for him is coming into a big team where you are not having to make as many saves and therefore concentration is important and you probably have more touches of the ball with your feet than what he might have expected," he added.